Finding the Moonlight
by rainingberries
Summary: Kiba, Tsume, Toboe, Hige, and Blue all died in the previous world, but they reincarnated in the new one. Kiba remembers his drive to find paradise, while the others do not. Hige, or "Yan", finds his tedious and constant life shattered by hallucinations, random memories, and crazy experiences. Will Hige remember who he once was and search for paradise, or will he fall to ignorance?
1. An untimely meeting

A/N: This is my first fanfic, and I hope it's good. I think the coming chapters after 1 and 2 are going to be much longer, and have more action of course :P. I'd really love some feedback on this story so I know how I'm doing, thanks!

Chapter 1

An untimely meeting

He woke up, staring outside the window into the sunset. Wait, sunset? It was that late already! What did it matter to him though? It was just another boring day in Freeze City. Nothing new was going to happen, but he built up the energy to get out of bed anyway.

The walls were tearing off a little bit, the sea green paint faded off even more than it already had, if that was even possible. The wooden floor creaked whenever someone walked on it, and was obscured with random clothes that probably went out of style years ago. He had a tiny kitchen and bathroom too, but they were just as old and decrepit.

Letting out a wolfish yawn, he scratched his hair, and decided to leave. He lived on the 4th floor of his decaying apartment complex, and as he walked outside, the smell of rotting food pierced his nose. He always had a gift for smelling (as weird as it sounded), but that's how it was. A sea of trash greeted him as he looked around the street. He looked to his left and saw the vegetable vendor who lived right outside the apartment complex.

"Hey there Yan! Would you like to buy anything? I have your favorite red peppers. They aren't that easy to come by anymore you know…"

"That's fine old man, I've… gotto go…"

He was usually really outgoing with the old man, considering he was one of the few decent folk around here, but he couldn't stay. He had to go. Where to, he didn't know. But something seemed to be calling to him. It sounded so weird when he thought about it, but it's just that he needed to go somewhere… So, he followed his instincts and walked up the hill through the market district.

The voices of the annoying shopkeepers constantly tried to pervade his mind, but his determination remained undeterred. The chatter of the shopping street was something regular that you had to live by, if you, well, wanted to live there. All the people flaunting their wares on the streets just kind of annoyed him, but that's how life had to be in this place.

And just then, he stopped in his tracks. Looking at the ground he saw a small animal, no more than a quarter of a foot tall. The small white kitten greeted him with a "meow.", and then walked away into an alley. _Maybe this is where he had to go_. He followed the frivolous feline through the convoluted alley, and… arrived at a dead end.

"How surprising, a dead end. Why do I do this to myself? I'm gonna go crazy if I keep doing stuff like this… or if I keep talking to myself… What a waste of time…"

He stretched is arms into the air, and turned around to walk away…

However

He couldn't move. He was paralyzed. His eyes were open, surprised beyond belief. His legs were shaking like a hammer had struck both his knees. The sight he saw as he turned around, was, appalling.

There in front of him, was a wolf.

Its fur glistened in the shine of the sunlight, but every hair looked like a knife ready to cut him up. Its teeth were sharpened and glowed like small little stars in its mouth, but they were ready to bite off his appendages. Its claws were a beautiful brown color, matching the coat of the creature that was about to take his life away. Every time he thought about how beautiful it was, he couldn't help but to notice how easily it could kill him.

Yan was paralyzed with fear. Everyone knew wolves were extinct. Scientists proved it already, didn't they? All of the sudden, Yan wasn't so sure of himself anymore. The legends told of how dangerous wolves were; their voracious appetites… their relentless drive… and… and… it was looking straight at him. With both of those ideals in mind it seemed. Black pearls in a sea of gold fixated on him. And all of the sudden a smile crossed its face.

Hold on, a smile?

It was too late to think about it though. The creature lunged towards him, sinking its sharp teeth into his left arm. Scarlet tears flashed off of Yan as he threw his arm around in a rage, trying to get the creature off.

"I… everything… it's going white…"

And with that, he fainted.


	2. Searching the expanse

Chapter 2

Searching the expanse

Everywhere he looked there was snow. The floor was an endless plain of whiteness, and right in front of him was a lake of some kind. Stained a navy blue color, the placid lake seemed to beckon to him. Yan put one finger in, and found it to be warm. It was so tempting to jump into that water, seeing as to how cold the outside world was.

But he didn't know. What could be in that water? Why was the water such a dark blue? Why was the water so warm? How could the water remain so warm when its surrounded by such a frigid cold? All of these questions didn't have answers, but it didn't matter in the end. After pondering it for a while, he jumped straight in.

It all changed. The water instantly became boiling hot, and slowly the color changed from blue to a dark purple. He'd done it now. He corrupted the water with, his very presence? It didn't make sense. Nothing made sense. In fact, what was he even doing there?

"Where am I?"

He woke up back in the alley where he was earlier, except now it was the middle of the night. Looking into the dark night sky, Yan desperately searched for a star, a symbol of guidance, but to no avail. He felt lost.

"It couldn't have happened, it was just a dream!" The huge gash on his arm proved otherwise though. There he lay, looking straight up into the sky. The moon was the only thing providing light to the broken city, and for that reason he was thankful for it.

He looked around himself; his eyes wide open in the fear and confusion of the moment. "I should probably find a way back home now…"

He arrived back at his apartment and jumped into bed, filled with relief to reach his sweet home. He had some wrapping bandages in the closet, which he took out and used as needed. And instantly, he fell into a deep sleep. Finally he could relax after all the terrors of the day. It would be better if he could just forget about it and move on. Tomorrow was a new day after all.

"Wake up sleepyhead, wake up!"

Sasha's voice progressively got louder and louder as she yelled at him.

"A few more minutes please," Yan sleepily murmured.

Sasha looked at him amused. "You know what; I'm getting fed up with waking you up for work every day."

"Ok ok, just give me a second." And with that a new day began. Sasha always knew how to wake Yan up when he was being lazy (which was pretty often).

Yan began to change behind the bathroom door. "What's the uniform for today?"

" 'Oh, just whatever you want, like always,' she said with a wink. "

"Right," Yan sarcastically spoke under his breath. The wink made it all the more awkward, but that's just how Sasha's sense of humor worked; making Yan feel awkward was always fun to do.

She wore small white sneakers, with green socks that rose close to her knees. Her turquoise and white tie dye hoodie matched her shoes, and her reddish brown hair flowed down her shoulders like a waterfall.

They both left to work which was "treasure hunting" as they preferred to call it.

Together, they walked from the apartment complex to the city's main trash collection district. The pungent piles of moldy fruits and vegetables pinched Yan's sense of smell, but he just had to deal with it. The piles of random half eaten edibles and overused items reached up like mountains in the middle of the city, and both Yan and Sasha trekked these mountains in search of "recyclable" gear.

"Hey Sasha, I found some kind of automatic fan… and look at this, someone threw away a toy remote control car. This stuff's worth a fortune! Why would they throw it away?"

The nobles were wasteful; they threw things away without giving them a second thought. Of course they had the money to pay for the things though, so it didn't matter to them.

Sasha casually responded, "Well it helps us put food in our stomachs, so I'm not complaining"

They continued until the sun reached the horizon and the golden rays of the sun diminished into a fuller orange. The pair had finished collecting goods for the day, and it was time for "Part II" of work.

Sasha ran on ahead to Yan's apartment as Yan lazily followed back. By the time Yan had reached the apartment complex, Sasha was running down the dilapidated steps and back toward the market district.

For a moment running backward, Sasha exclaimed "Hurry up slowpoke! Time is money!"

Yan simply sighed, and walked up to his room to get cleaned up before joining Sasha at the market district. They didn't want to scare customers away with the smell of trash (even though most people in this poor district of the city were at least a bit used to the smell).

By the time he got to the market district, Sasha had already set up shop and was selling all the "treasure" from the day.

"Come check out our remote regulated vehicle simulator, or would you like to spice up your dining with some hand-welded, iron coated, pots and pans…only 15 gil each!"

She kept saying it over and over again, almost like a military march. The products were different every time, but the way she said it was the same every time.

Soon enough, it was getting dark.

In the end, they only made 12 gil from all the hard work of the day; that kind of money was barely enough to pay for 3 apples. The thoughts from the previous day still spun around and around in Yan's head. He couldn't get the image of the wolf out of his head. It was corrupting his mind. There was always a place he could count on to make him feel better though.

"C'mon, I wanna show you something Sasha."

He grabbed her by the hand, told her to close her eyes, and walked her calmly through all the complicated alleyways the city had to offer. She questioned Yan numerous times if she could open her eyes yet, which was understandable considering how long it took to get to _that place_.

"This is the place I like to call my_ paradise_"

Sasha opened her eyes expecting something phenomenal. Maybe it was a broken slab of rock shaped like a person, or a huge green tree (a rarity in that concrete jungle), or even a beautiful fountain with an angel blowing water from its lips.

It was a small decrepit building in the heart of the city, tiny alleys and small houses surrounding it from every side. The paint on the walls was all gone, and holes littered the building like it was a block of cheese a huge mouse had found days ago.

Sasha eyed Yan discerningly, wondering what Yan was up to. There had to be some kind of catch.

"Follow me," Yan excitedly said as he walked up the creaky steps on the side of the building. Once at floor two, he led her onto an open balcony. "Come on, sit down with me."

As he said that, Yan lay down on the floor, and looked straight up into the night sky. The heavens were full of stars that night.

"Sasha, do you think that there's anything more to life than this?

She seemed confused. "What do you mean, Yan?"

Yan just blurted it out; "I've just got this feeling that I need to go somewhere, somewhere new. I don't know where…but-"

A concerned look crossed Sasha's face as soon as she heard _that_ coming from Yan's mouth. "Yan, are you ok? …

Right after she said that though, she paused for a few seconds and thought about what he had just said. Her look immediately changed from that of a concerned mother to a wondering philosopher. She looked up into the night sky, staring into the sparkling stars that filled the black sea.

Yan reassured her, "Well I guess we'll find out what's in store for us soon enough."

They looked into the night sky, waiting for their dreams to take over.

"_I wonder what paradise is like, the one the nobles are always talking about. It sounds like such a perfect place…"_


	3. A rude awakening

Chapter 3

A rude awakening

Yan yawned, and got up. He was still half asleep, but he realized he probably should get up. " I'm gonna go get us some breakfast Sasha, just wait here." His eyes were barely open, but he managed, somehow, to get through the confusing alleyways back to the market district.

When he arrived at the exit, the place where the last alley transferred straight into the market district, he noticed something very different about it. "It looks just as booming as usual and… so much bigger than usual?"

He was right. Everything _was_ bigger than usual. The wooded shop stalls seemed a few feet seemed to tower above him, and he had to look up to see the different people. Was he crawling or something?

He started getting a little tense. The image of the wolf kept pounding in his head. "_Is something happening to me again?"_ He spoke aloud to himself in his confusion, "Umm, what's going on?"

He was starting to get unnerved so, doing what anyone in their right mind _would_ do, he ran straight into the middle of the street.

People selling goods, people bartering with sellers for better prices, people just hanging around for fun; they all stopped straight in their tracks, and stared. One person yelled, "Oh my god! Is that what I think it is?" Soon after, another voice shouted "But, I thought… I thought…" Soon after, a symphony of shouting began, and it was beyond Yan to know what to do.

He stood there puzzled. "_Why is everyone so scared of me?_"

"Everyone its Yan… don't you recognize me?"

And of course…. no one did. Every word he spoke only made them more and more scared. As he looked through the variety of faces, he saw a common motif of fear in all their expressions. He ran through the street, his feet digging into the ground every step he took. He was traveling way faster than he normally would, which shocked him as well.  
"Why am I going so fast? What's going on? Why is everyone so scared of me!?"

The questions repeated and pounded over and over again in his head, and seeing that he there was no other option, he ran into a random alley he saw on the left, and went as deep as he could through the labyrinth of alleys.

About a minute into the run, he saw the white kitten, but now he didn't have to look as low to see it.

He stopped straight in _his_ tracks now, and shouted, "YOU! You made this all happen. Ever since I saw you, strange things have been happening to me!"

He threw his hand toward the creature to grab it, but…

"Where is my hand…!? What the hell is this? A paw? What the hell is going on!?"

The cat stared at him as if he was crazy. "Hey mister, I'd appreciate it if you didn't attack me when I'm trying to talk to you."

Yan couldn't take it anymore. He _was_ going crazy. Actually, he _had_ to be going crazy. There was no other solution to the problem that would explain everything. "What the hell, you can talk!? What's going on?!"

The kitten looked at him for a few seconds still puzzled, seeing if Yan would come to his senses; of course he didn't. "Well mister, just go look in the mirror. I think you'll find your answer there."

There was a broken chunk of a glass mirror lying on the floor next to both of them, so Yan decided to go see for himself.

"Aaaaaaagh! What is this!"

_His fur glistened in the shine of the sunlight, and every hair looked like a knife ready to cut. His teeth were sharpened and glowed like small little stars in its mouth, but they were ready to bite off appendages. His claws were a beautiful black, but his fur was a contrasting white. _

He saw the creature that he saw a few days ago in the mirror, except now he was that creature. "I'm a monster! I knew I was cursed as soon as I saw that thing back yesterday and It's all your fault this is happening I don'tknowwhattod do I have a tail oh god help me!"

As Yan's sentences words and sentences were melding together from confusion, the cat was starting to get a little annoyed. "Mister, calm yourself down."

The cat's calm voice angered him even more. Why was the cat acting so easygoing when he just cursed him for who knows how long? "Did someone tell you to get me cursed? This isn't the Darcia family curse is it? I've heard too much about how people go crazy from that!"

The kitten maintained its calmness. "You're so weird; you don't even act like the other wolves…"

Yan was shocked. Was he not the only one?

"Wait, there are more? How many others are there? But I thought… I thought… wolves were extinct."

"Mister, you're living proof that that theory is wrong. Just leave me alone."

The kitten ran away, leaving Yan alone in the middle of that secluded alleyway. The light post shone in on the center of the alley, leaving the sides a little dark. Yan quickly squirmed backward into that darkness, scared of what he had become; scared of himself.

"_I wonder how Sasha is. She's the closest thing to family I've got. Did it happen to her too?_"

He ran back through the alleys the way he came from the market place. There were two armed guys coming out of a van that had written "Government Officers" on it.

"_Oh… they're probably after me…"_

He ran stealthily behind the first shopping stand on the side of the road, then to the next, and to the next, and so on and so forth. All the people that used to be carousing around there had left probably scared of another "monster attack". He tried to be as careful as possible.

Just a few moments after Yan started his stealthy escape, he heard a snap. As cliché as it seemed, he had stepped on a twig.

"_Only I would be this unlucky…"_

"Look over there! The dog, it's over there!"

The animal control agents ran toward him, but Yan didn't run away. In fact, he had an impulse to jump at them, and he did. Moments later, one of the guards was pinned to the floor, his blood covering a one foot radius around his head.

"_What just happened? Did I kill him? Ow! I'm getting… sleepy…"_

He woke up again. Three of the walls around him were a saturated black, while one wall wasn't a wall at all, it was bars. There were others. Straight in front of him was an auburn furred she-wolf with sharp green eyes that were already fixated on him.

The horrors of the past two days were destroying him. He didn't have patience anymore to be as calm and easygoing as he used to be, when he was human. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

The wolf replied, "Because you're new, just like me… Why're you here?"

Yan answered cautiously, still amazed at the situation he was in, "For existing I guess."

He looked around the dim cell to see cobwebs layering every corner, and felt the cold stone floor which was also a bit moist with who knows what.

The white wolf opposite to him let out a short laugh. "That's what they do, these humans. They're scared of what they don't know, or what they haven't seen."

Yan just smirked and said, "Well you sure act like you know a lot. Were you a human too?"

The white wolf just looked at him with a "What the hell are you stupid?" kind of face.

"Of course not… those disgusting humans. I would tear them apart easily if I had the chance. Nothing will stand in the way of me getting to paradise."

"_Paradise, maybe that's it… it could be what I feel so much. Where I want to go so terribly."_

The brown wolf looked at the white one and seemed very intrigued.

She asked the white one; "I've been getting a feeling… that I have to go somewhere. Do you think, maybe, that it might be this 'paradise' you keep talking about?"

The white wolf gave her the same look he gave Yan when he asked if the white wolf was human before. "Are you being serious!? That's every wolf's destiny! To get to paradise. It's in our blood! Some wolves don't recognize it though, not soon enough at least."

The brown wolf, stunned and with a very frightened tone in her voice, gave a simple "Ok."

After a few moments of silence, they were talking about it again. The questions seemed to be leaking out of the brown wolf's mind. She just kept going on and on about paradise, asking all about anything related to it she could think of. _He_ had that feeling too, and _he_ had to let them know, but he felt dumb saying it. He couldn't even accept what was happening to him at the moment.

The brown wolf continued on, "So you're saying everywhere you look there are fields of flowers? Ohhhhhhhh I can't wait to go there now! I wonder if there are-"

After a few minutes of listening to them talk about it, he had to join in. "Wait! You guys, I've been having the feeling too…"

The white wolf seemed amused, and with a smirk on his face just replied, "Well ok, glad to know you're a normal wolf…"

A sudden silence befell them for a good few minutes, until Yan built up the nerve to talk again. "So, what are your names anyway? I never got them"

The brown wolf replied, "Sasha."

The white wolf replied, "I'm Kiba."


	4. Unexpected Memories

Chapter 4

Unexpected memories

He just sat there, shocked. She turned into one too? Was this like some kind of world epidemic? Were random people turning into wolves as they spoke? Of course not, but the thoughts kept rising in Yan's head; he couldn't comprehend anything anymore. But, in all his insanity, he found a new peace.

He finally reached a decision on how to make sense of it all. He would throw away all of the ideas he previously had about all this stuff; wolves, paradise, life in Freeze City… and just start anew. It only made sense considering all the events that unfolded over the past two days.

With a surprised expression still on his face he spoke, "Well, my name is Yan… if you wanted to know…"

Now the surprised expression transferred to Sasha, "Yan! Is that really you! Do you have any idea how worried I was about you? Do you know what the hell's going on? I just woke up, minding my own business, walked through the market street, and suddenly these huge guys in army suits or something just came up to me, shot me, and locked me up here!"

Yan just chuckled for a second. It was one of those times where you lost all hope, so laughing about the simple things was all you could do. "Well yeah, that's pretty much been my day too."

Kiba, confused, asked, "What are you even talking about. You really aren't like the others. You're supposed to disguise yourselves in front of the humans according to most of them. That bastard Tsume thinks he owns this place. A wolf's pride can't be tarnished by looking like one of them!"

_Suddenly something clicked. Hearing that name triggered a memory in his already critically confused mind. "Tsume", it felt like he heard that name before, but he didn't know where…_

Yan continued thinking about it, and his heart was pounding. Why was it pounding, he didn't know.  
"_It has something to do with…paradise?"_

Yan needed to know. If he wanted to sort out all of the things going on with him, he had to learn more about paradise. "How do you get to this paradise?"

Kiba just smirked again, condescendingly this time, and answered, "You can't just _get_ to paradise. It's not that simple. You have to reach it. That's why I'm here, in this city… I could smell the _lunar flower_ miles away from here, so I had to come.

His facial expression suddenly changed from amused, to angered, "I would've been fine if I hadn't run into that bastard Tsume. If he didn't bite me in the damn leg I wouldn't have gotten caught by those sickening humans."

Yan asked, "You think I can meet this "Tsume" you keep mentioning?"

Kiba looked at him with a confused expression. "Why the hell would you even want to? He's a disgrace. I don't even know where he is. If you can get out of here yourself then have fun finding him."

Yan just lost the only lead he got, in about 2 seconds. It seemed there was no reason to look for the truth. He was going to rot in this jail anyway, so why did it matter? He looked at Sasha's eyes, but suddenly they appeared a dark blue shade. Was he seeing things? What was going on?

"_**If I can be with you when the world ends, it will be enough for me!"**_

What was that? He heard a woman yelling that, but as he looked around no one appeared to be screaming. It was so loud that it couldn't have been very far off. It was almost like a memory to him, a forgotten one at least.

Quickly, the "memory" faded away, and he found himself staring straight into Sasha's emerald green eyes again. He shook his head in disbelief, trying to rid himself of any more perplexing thoughts entering his mind.

He looked to his right and saw Kiba already biting through the bars of the prison.

Almost simultaneously in disbelief Sasha and Yan yelled, "What are you doing!" He actually got through one of the bars, and Kiba was working on breaking apart the next one.

It was just crazy, but then again, their experiences in the past few days made the situation seem actually pretty normal.

Kiba looked at them with a smile, then he did something different. He howled. The howl sounded like a beautiful melody to Yan's ears. It was a sound that seemed so friendly, but it could mean so many other things. It sounded so familiar…

Kiba's voice cut through Yan's thoughts. "Come on, we gotto go!"

The three wolves ran straight out of the cell into a hallway flooded by light. All the walls were a grayish blue color, and metallic panes stretched across the ceiling. There were a few air vents here and there, and guards scattered all over the place.

"Come on, there's no time to admire the scenery, get over here!"

Yan quickly realized this was his only chance to escape, and he ran as fast as he could to try to catch up with the other two. He saw as Kiba jumped up onto a guard's shoulders and bit his neck, leaving the man falling to his knees and finally onto his side, bleeding out. Yan picked up speed and finally caught up to Sasha. Then, almost without thinking, he jumped into a security guard and bit his arm, and ran away as fast as he could.

Kiba seemed surprised as he looked backwards at Yan. "What are you doing? Just kill them if you need to", exclaimed Kiba.

He had no time to think though about it though, and the group of three flew through the front entrance door into the light of the day. Kiba kept running and went into a random alley on their left. Where was he going? It didn't matter. Their ultimate destination was freedom anyway.

Sasha looked back at Yan to make sure he was alright, and Yan gave a nod back signifying he was. After about 15 minutes of running, they arrived at some kind of abandoned factory building. The sun was setting, so they decided to go inside and see if the place was safe to be a hideout.

Yan immediately flopped down onto the hard floor, getting ready to take a nap. He couldn't believe the adventure he had just gone on, and even though the floor was cold and concrete, it was warm and nice to him since he just found freedom from the crazy world. Finally, he could relax.

About a moment into his "perfect moment", he heard a voice. The voice sounded familiar, just like how the voice of that woman he had heard back at the prison sounded like a distant memory, but not quite the same person, or for that matter, wolf. The voice was … intimidating and loud.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here!"

Kiba answered the mysterious voice, "We needed a place to rest."

The voice boomed back, "What the hell is that supposed to mean! Get out of my territory!"

Yan looked in the direction that Kiba was talking in, and was petrified with shock.

The intimidating voice came from an intimidating man, or wolf for that matter. He was completely gray, with a lighter shade of gray on his underside. He had sharp yellow eyes that seemed to pierce through Yan's very being, not to mention an x shaped scar on his chest.

_"Just get lost, okay? I'm getting pissed-off. And that only happens when I'm around idiots like you."_


	5. A Chance Encounter

Chapter 5

A Chance Encounter

For a moment they had reached a stalemate. The scarred grey wolf just sharply eyed them, as if his simple gaze was enough to turn Yan and the group around. The worst part was it seemed to be working; at least on Yan. Kiba's gaze was undeterred as he glared right back at Tsume with his feet firmly planted in the ground and his fangs shown off as if starting a fight.

"Who the hell said this dump was your territory. A pride-less dog like you doesn't even deserve this concrete wasteland," Kiba exclaimed.

Tsume gawked at the white wolf as he immediately replied, "You've got a big mouth for someone so stupid; probably 'cause of all the shit that comes out of it."

Yan's hind legs were shaking, and as he looked at Sasha he could see his fear reflected in Sasha's emerald eyes.

Kiba didn't falter in response to Tsume's snide remark, disposing of what little enjoyment Tsume got from making it. Quickly he turned his focus to Yan, and almost playfully pointed out, "You wanted to meet him didn't you."

Tsume's sharp stare transferred to Yan as he asked, "Kid, do you have a bone to pick with me!?"

Yan simply looked back and forth from Tsume to Kiba, and sometimes to Sasha, hoping that one of them would interject some statement to take the limelight off of him.

Some of Kiba's beliefs had rubbed off on Yan. Yan was a wolf now, so he had to start acting like one. Where was his pride? Trying hard to hide his anxiety, Yan calmly responded "All we wanted was a place to rest; could you spare us that?"

Then there was silence. Tsume watched as a drop of sweat flowed down Yan's check and onto the cold floor. The silence felt like an eternity to Yan due to his fear and worry, confusion, wonder, and _desire_. What was he doing there anyway? Why did he decide to follow Kiba? Was it because Kiba released him from the prison or because Kiba released his spirit? Maybe he only followed along because the idea of _paradise_ was irresistible. _Paradise_ had to be it: his final destination.

Before Yan got a second more to think about it, Tsume with a blank expression as if talking to himself, broke the silence. "I don't have time for losers like you…"

And with that, he hopped through the broken wall, and Yan, Kiba, and Sasha were alone once more. As disconcerting as Tsume was, there was a certain aura about him that Yan simply couldn't shake off.

"**Let's meet up again in paradise"**

Again he was hearing voices, but this time he had no idea who it could have been. The line was spoken both delicately and full of passion, as if it were the last words of a dying soul.

Kiba looked at Yan and Sasha. "We'll stay here for the night. We need the energy to keep following the scent trail of the _lunar flower_. "

Kiba always seemed to think so objectively. He was always walking toward a finish line, never dissuaded by the millions of distractions along the way. After a few minutes, Kiba was already asleep.

Yan kept on trying to let the stars take him into a dream, yet he just couldn't sleep. He slowly opened one of his eyes, and glanced toward Sasha. Looking at her he felt so much warmer, even though he was resting on an unforgivingly cold slab of concrete. He felt like he was at a home away from home looking at her. It was as if she was the only thing keeping him from going insane.

"I know you're staring at me Yan. Like what you see?"

Yan was both surprised and comforted hearing that statement. On one hand he was caught staring at her, and on the other hand her weird sense of humor blanketed his fear of the future.

"Come on, let's go get some fresh air," Yan said.

They both sat in the moonlight from the hole in the wall Tsume jumped out of. They both sat there, staring into the starry night sky.

"Yan, do you remember when we were at '_your paradise'_. You asked me something about the extent of life, and I just looked at you like you were a crazy person… well I think I understand what you were talking about."

Yan was confused to hear such unorthodox words come from Sasha's mouth, but he continued to let her speak her mind.

"I… I can't stop thinking about that place Kiba said… about _paradise_. I mean… I don't know what's there, or even if we can trust Kiba… but I still want to believe. I want to believe that it's where I'm meant to go… that it's calling my name."

Yan had never felt more connected with someone else in his life. He was basically looking into a mirror. All of his complex emotions from before all the craziness happened; they were being acknowledged. Knowing not what else to do, he simply looked at Sasha and smiled softly.

Suddenly, Sasha reached her snout over and gave Yan a lick on the cheek. It was actually for real this time. It wasn't meant to be an awkward joke, so what was it? Yan looked the opposite way, embarrassed about what had just happened, yet Sasha simply kept on looking at him.

"I'm gonna go back to sleep", Yan exclaimed, and with that he tensely walked back into the dark. Sasha simply stared at him from the light and smiled, then stretched her legs outward and lay down to catch some sleep as well.

Yan slowly opened his eyelids and yawned as the golden rays of the sun lit up the room. He slowly lifted his head to see Sasha right above him.

Yan jumpily ran backward; hitting a trash can in the process that fell down with a loud crash. Sasha blurted out laughing in response. Yan was sure he was gonna get yelled at by Kiba for not being careful or something, but Kiba was nowhere to be seen. Sasha noticed it too, so they both quickly ran to the hole in the wall. Their eyes darted around quickly as they searched for any sign of Kiba. If he left them, what would they do? He was their only guide in this new wolf eat wolf world. On a horizontal pillar that connected the factory to the building next to it, they saw a man sitting down.

Long lightly curled auburn hair flowed down his scalp, but not too far, which gave him the appearance of a drifter. A white button up shirt covered his torso, and a grey-green coat covered layered that. Slim blue jeans went down his legs and met his black and white sneakers. And then, he looked right at Yan and Sasha.

"Oh my god he sees us! Run away!" Sasha yelled as her hind legs shivered like the coldest wind was brushing by them. They both backed away slowly, but not before noticing a smile cross the man's face as he jumped down from the pillar. The pillar was about 4 stories high, so Yan closed his eyes and braced himself for the blood that would splatter when the man hit the ground.

He opened his eyes slowly expecting to see bloodshed… but wait what!? The man stood there staring at him. It was as if the world was merely toying with him at this point.

The man arched his back and put his face right in front of Yan's as if he was playing a game. Yan snapped out of his trance and just looked at Sasha stunned.

"I see you don't understand how to disguise yourselves. All the better since you're at least maintaining your dignity as _wolves_"

Suddenly it clicked in Yan's mind. Who was the only person he knew to ramble on and on about wolf pride… Kiba of course!

"Kiba? How in the world did you turn back into a human? You've gotta teach me! I need to go back and I wanna see my old apartment again and talk to the shopkeepers and eat those tasty bell peppers and and– "

It was all coming back to him. The prospect of being able to return back to normal filled Yan with excitement. It was to the point that words were pouring out of his mouth with very little thought.

"This is just an illusion some wolves use to trick the humans. As much as I hate it, Tsume was right about one thing.

**Pride ****doesn't count for ****much ****if ****you're dead**"

Immediately Yan froze in place and his heart skipped a beat. What the hell was going on!? Strangely enough, it sounded like the same voice as last time. This had to be the millionth time that a phrase resonated like this in his head. It was like he was cursed with an endless case of déjà vu or something. What could he possibly do?

He came back to his senses.

"Hold on. So Tsume said that to you?" Yan asked.

"That's right. Out of all the shit that comes out of his mouth there was at least one good tip," Kiba explained as he gazed to his right. "Come on, we gotta get going before those humans catch us again, not that I'd let them."

"But wait," Sasha shrieked. "How are we supposed to follow you. How did you turn into, you know…"

"If you look hard enough, you can tell illusion from reality. Apply that same concept to yourselves."

And with that, Kiba ran off.

Yan turned his head around the corner from the hole in the wall, and saw a white wolf tail flashing around a corner.

"Okay Sasha we have to figure this–". He turned around to see…

_She wore small white sneakers, with green socks that rose close to her knees. Her turquoise and white tie dye hoodie matched her shoes, and her reddish brown hair flowed down her shoulders like a waterfall._

"What in the hell happened to you?"

Sasha cutely smiled at him. She hopped out of the hole in the wall and glanced at Yan. Jokingly, she taunted Yan with a "Catch up sweetie" before running in the same path that Kiba did.

At this point, there really wasn't a way for Yan to test if he looked like a human or not, so he just sat there for a moment contemplating what his next course of action would be.

Just as Yan snuck his face through the hole in the wall he saw a brown wolf staring at him from the corner of the abandoned factory. Its huge golden eyes were fixated on him. It was staring right at him. And then…

_Black pearls in a sea of gold fixated on him. And all of the sudden a smile crossed its face_.

It was just like before. Except this time it was taunting him like it had done _this_ to him. _It_ was the reason all of this was happening. Without thinking for a moment more, he rushed toward the creature with rage filling his mind to the brim. Yan and Sasha had gone the exact opposite way, but it didn't matter. The only goal in his mind now was to get answers from this mysterious character.

The brown wolf turned around and ran around the corner it was waiting at.

"_You think you can catch me?"_


End file.
